HUGHES TRIAL UPDATE-Bethlehem cop accepted ticket offer

Det. Charles Radliff, of the Bethlehem police, said today in an Albany County court he accepted an offer of free hockey tickets from ex-River Rat Robert Bobby Hughes during his first interview with him.

Hughes told the detective tickets have to be picked up at will call before games. It was not clear if Radliff ever picked up any tickets.

Radliff said he did not view the offer as a bribe, and was talking about hockey to attempt to make Hughes comfortable during an initial interview.

"I just figured it was him being friendly," Radliff said.

He declined to speak with reporters outside of court.

Radliff was one of four witnesses who took the stand on the fourth day of testimony in the trial of Hughes, who is accused of sexually assaulting a Bethlehem woman in October of 2008.

Jurors also heard from My Place and Co. owner James Giaconne, who viewed security video along with Radliff several days after the alleged incident. Hughes and the alleged victim met at the Delmar sports bar and restaurant.

That video will not be part of the trial because a copy was never made before the security system wrote over it again 21 days later. Radliff had requested a copy after the two viewed it and made followup calls asking the same, but Giaconne said he didn't know how to make one and had difficulty getting his technician in.

"At the end of the video there was nothing there, and I thought that's why he didn't press for a copy of the tape," Giaconne said.

Radliff acknowledged he could have applied for a search warrant or employed police technicians to assist in making a copy of the tape, but did not take these measures because he did not observe anything notable in the footage.